Fayetteville city manager says council may want to consider restructuring after Supreme Court ruling

Thursday

Jun 27, 2013 at 12:01 AMJun 27, 2013 at 8:14 AM

Andrew Barksdale Staff writer

Fayetteville's city manager says the City Council may want to consider restructuring its political makeup after the Supreme Court threw out major parts of a federal voting rights law.

City Manager Ted Voorhees raised the potentially controversial issue in an email late Tuesday. He said that in light of the high court's ruling, which removes the city from seeking federal "preclearance" before making any election changes, the council could go back to a 2007 proposal to restructure itself.

That proposal would have changed the council from nine single-member districts to six districts and three at-large seats in which council candidates, like the mayor, run in citywide races.

Such a change would give voters five people to elect: the mayor, their district representative and the three at-large members.

Now, voters can vote only for the mayor and their district representative.

"This is certainly 'food for thought' about how the City Council is structured," Voorhees' email said.

There appears to be little, if any, support on the council for reviving the restructuring proposal.

The restructuring plan was narrowly passed, 53 percent to 47 percent, by voters in a citywide referendum in February 2007.

The vote was largely along racial lines. Black council members and other black civic leaders opposed the plan. They said the change would have made it harder for minorities to win seats on the council, which has four black-majority districts now.

Predominantly minority neighborhoods along Murchison Road voted overwhelmingly against the change, while predominantly white neighborhoods were heavily in favor of it.

In the fall of 2007, the U.S. Department of Justice struck down the council restructuring plan, saying that under the U.S. Voting Rights Act, the change could hurt minority voting.

In his email Tuesday, Voorhees said no council changes could be implemented before this year's municipal elections because the period in which candidates file paperwork to run for office starts July 5.

Voorhees thinks the idea may have merit.

"But it is a noteworthy change to our political landscape," his email said.

Voorhees was a deputy city manager for the city of Durham for a decade before taking over Fayetteville last August. The Durham City Council has seven members: three from "wards," or districts; three at-large; and the mayor.

Grass-roots effort

A grass-roots initiative, led by businessman Steven Moore of Moore Exposure advertising, led to 5,000 signatures on a petition that, under a state law, triggered the referendum.

The council in fall 2006 voted 8-2 to allow the referendum. Voting "no" were Councilmen D.J. Haire and Charles Evans, now a Cumberland County commissioner.

Two other council members, Robert Massey and Curtis Worthy, opposed the restructuring plan but voted with the majority to hold the referendum and avoid violating state law. Worthy, who is black and a former councilman, said at the time that he would "try my best to defeat" the referendum measure.

Mayor Tony Chavonne was a supporter then for the so-called 6-3 restructuring of the council.

The mayor could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Massey asked if making a change today would meet the community's needs.

"We need to take that question to the citizens," he said.

Voorhees attempted to clarify his suggestion in an email to the City Council on Wednesday.

"I believe that any change to the way the City Council is elected should go through an appropriate public process to determine how best to represent the interests of our citizens," he wrote.

"If the City Council wishes to wade into this issue, I would recommend that broad involvement of community interests take place," Voorhees wrote.

Councilman Keith Bates, who supported the restructuring in 2007, said he does not think the timing is good this year, not with potentially half of the council leaving office after the fall elections.

Bates said the current council configuration can be myopic, with members focusing on the interests of their districts.

Councilman Wade Fowler said he favored the plan before his election in 2011. He since has changed his mind, he said.

"Sometimes, it's cumbersome," he said of an all-district council makeup. "But it helps protect individual parts of the city."

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People opposed the restructuring plan then, and it would do so again, said Jimmy Buxton, president of the Fayetteville branch.

"We feel at-large voting is discriminatory," Buxton said. "We feel like it is, and has been, in this area and in the South."

The Cumberland County Board of Commissioners has seven members: Five represent districts, and two are at-large.

Staff writer Andrew Barksdale can be reached at barksdalea@fayobserver.com or 486-3565.

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